Monday, July 6, 2009

Do You Have an Ultra-Useful Household Item? Here Are Mine!

Part of a writer’s job is to gauge the market and determine what sells and what doesn’t. Quite often writers have to make the sacrifice of putting aside topics they love writing about in favour of those that do well on the printed or online market.

Because of career training and work experience, I feel more comfortable and qualified to write about relationships and life-coaching type articles. Nevertheless, some of my most successful articles published on Triond are not those that address what makes life easier, but what makes living easier in the home.

These first four (below) hit a spot on the internet. I think what makes the series so popular is not just the title, but the fact that they describe hilarious scenarios. They outline cheap, useful and unknown uses for various household items, but as a change from the norm where advice and tips are generally painstakingly listed, this amusing but handy series show someone walking around the home with a jar of Vaseline or salt, a bottle of baby oil, and a pack of toothpicks taking care of the many tasks around the house that particular item could be used for - all in one go. The articles in the series are:

Top Ten (Legal) Things to do if you Find Yourself Holding a Jar of Vaseline

Top Ten (Legal) Things to do if you Find Yourself Holding a Jar of Salt

Top Ten (Legal) Things to do if you Find Yourself Left Holding a Bottle of baby oil

Top Ten (Legal) Things to do if you Find Yourself Holding a Pack of toothpicks

As you can see, the titles are very catchy indeed, and do describe perfectly what the articles are all about.

On a lesser note, I published How To Clean Pet Feces, Yucky Spills and Other Mucky Things. This has always performed well, but the views came in constant dribbles rather than a mighty force of a Caribbean wave. I suppose this shows that more concise pieces do better than just general household-tips ones.

It was then I realised that ‘Why duct tape Became the Love of My Life’ had to be written. I’ve always had a good selection of duct tape at home because I think out of everything else, this item has been most useful to me through the years.

What’s your favourite ultra useful household item?

5 comments:

Susan R. Mills said...

Definitely duct tape! It can just about fix anything. My friend even uses it to cover holes in clothing! No, I'm serious! She's crazy!

Unknown said...

Lemons, baking soda, vinegar, creme hair rinse, plastic spray bottles, Epsom salt, witch hazel, potatoes - is that enough for now? I love products which have multi-purpose uses, and you've written a few that have been invaluable. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with.

Thanks & God bless!

Ching Ya said...

Hi Anne,
Amazing! I think you've provided some really cool tips that most of us are not even aware of! Use vaseline on hair -- that shocks me the most, but it's good to know. Other than that, I've really enjoyed some chuckles and nodding in amazement for all the fun ideas you provided. Thanks for sharing!
*feel much smarter somehow* ^^

You bet I'm following. Nice to meet you, Anne.

@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker

Alexa Gates said...

Those are great articles Anne :D all very useful!

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

Thanks for your input, guys.